A letter from the Churches Together in Luton Executive
At our recent church leader’s breakfast, we were addressed by local MP Sarah Own and CEO of Christian charity Jubilee plus, Natalie Williams.
Sarah spoke about the way society is becoming increasingly polarised and that both social and broadcast media are motivated to exaggerate conflict. She shared how as a politician, this causes her distress and that she feels it is not good for Luton, and society as a whole. Although she is not a Christian believer, she recognises the contribution that we as Christian leaders have been making to bring harmony to our divided society.
Natalie, a good friend of Sarah’s for many years, shared with us about the mercy of God and how we are called to bring God’s mercy to our society. She shared her own challenge to show mercy to everyone, in the way she sees Jesus doing. Showing mercy to victims of injustice is much easier than having compassion for perpetrators. Both messages were good and very important, but it was also really good to see an MP of no faith having honest and positive working relationship with her Christian friend.
This is obviously just a glimpse of what was powerfully shared, however, enough to remind us of our calling to be salt and light to our very diverse and often divided town. To help us see the role that we must embrace as peacemakers amid exaggerated conflict. We know that division can occur between Christians from different ethnicities and traditions. It is even more apparent between people of different faiths, different political persuasions and social classes.
To be that salt and light, and to be a people who are defined by love, as Jesus commanded us to be, may we therefore encourage you to embrace every opportunity to engage personally and as congregations in building bridges with those who are different from yourself. There are numerous ways to do that, as our conscience allows:
- We can engage with activities organised by the Luton Council of Faiths, such as their annual peace walk.
- We can contact other faith leaders directly, especially those near our churches, and reach out to them in friendship. Finding out about their perspectives on the area of Luton our faith communities are in is a great step towards being people of peace. We may be able to help you with that.
- Some of us may feel comfortable to take up the regular offers to visit mosques and to participate in meals connected with faith celebrations such as iftars during Ramadan. All as conscience allows.
For those of us who may not be sure about the value of reaching out to people of other faiths, The Feast (which regularly runs events that bring teenagers from different faiths and cultures together for mutual understanding) is equipped to run workshops or training courses that would help us and our congregations explore why and how we can build bridges towards people from other communities and faiths, without feeling like we have to compromise our own. That work is led by Ulrike Hunt, who serves on the CTL exec.
Additionally, St Marys Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, led by Peter Adams and his colleague Cathy Nobles, are able to help you with advice or training on community cohesion and peace, and the issues that divide us.
We are looking to ask Ulrike and Peter to share further on this in the not so far off future.
We are convinced that now is the time for the Christian community in Luton to step up and together embrace our God given calling to serve our town, and to demonstrate we can be distinctly Christian and live at peace with all our neighbours.
Tony Thompson
Chair of Churches Together in Luton with CTL executive
